The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of August 29, 2020

 

Saturday:  The Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter make a long, skinny triangle in the southern sky at 10:00 p.m.. Jupiter is exactly one and a fists to the right of the Moon and Saturn is midway between, and just above, them. Astronomers discovered volcanoes spewing water vapor on Saturn’s moon Enceledus back in 2005. Just last year, scientists published findings of similar activity on Jupiter’s moon Europa. (What is it with moon name’s that start with the letter “E”?) It’s not possible to see Enceladus with a small telescope. But you can see Europa.  If you look at 10:00 p.m., you’ll see three moons, Europa is closest to Jupiter, then Ganymede, and then Callisto. The inner moon Io is behind Jupiter at this time. For more information about Europa’s geysers, go to https://earthsky.org/space/europa-water-vapor-geysers-goddard. 

Sunday:  Mars is a little more than one fist above the eastern horizon at 11:00 p.m.

Monday: Had the script been written a little differently for a well-known Robin Williams movie, we might have heard Mr. Williams shout, “Goooood Morning Orion the hunter”. Orion is typically thought of as a winter constellation. But, it makes its first appearance in the early morning summer sky. The lowest corner of Orion’s body, represented by the star Saiph (pronounced “safe”), rises at 2:00 a.m., well before the Sun. By 5:30 a.m., Orion’s belt is three fists above the south-southeastern horizon. 

Tuesday: Need a caffeine pick-me-up? Make it a double. Need an astronomy pick-me-up? Make it a double double. Find Vega, in the constellation Lyra the lyre, nearly straight overhead at 9:00 tonight. Less than half a fist to the east (or left if you are facing south) of the bright bluish star Vega is the “star” Epsilon Lyra. If you look at Epsilon Lyra through binoculars, it looks like two stars. If you look at Epsilon Lyra through a large enough telescope, you will notice that each star in the pair is itself a pair of stars.  Each star in the double is double. Hence, Epsilon Lyra is known as the double double. The stars in each pair orbit a point approximately in the center of each respective pair. The pairs themselves orbit a point between the two pairs.

Wednesday: Venus is three fists above due east at 5:30 a.m.

Thursday: While you were looking through your underwear drawer for clean socks, some citizen scientists were looking through sky maps obtained by robotic telescopes to find brown dwarfs. The project, called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, allows anyone with a computer and internet connection to search through thousands of images to find these strange objects that are midway between being classified as large planets and small stars. Some brown dwarfs can have surface temperature of thousands of degrees Celsius, the recently discovered ones are cooler than the boiling point of water and may even have clouds of water vapor! Read more about the discovery and how you can participate this project at https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2020-159. 

Friday: “I’m a little teapot, short and stout. The galactic center, I pour it out.” (I’m a Little Teapot, astronomy version, 2019.) Despite its great size and importance, the center of our Milky Way galaxy and its giant black hole remains hidden to the naked eye behind thick clouds of gas and dust. By plotting the orbits of stars near the middle of the galaxy, astronomers have determined that the black hole’s mass is equal to about 4.5 million Suns. While you can’t see the actual galactic center, you can gaze in the direction of the center by looking just to the right of the teapot asterism in the constellation Sagittarius. This point is about one fist above the south-southwestern horizon at 9:00 p.m.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up to date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of August 22, 2020

 Saturday: Arcturus is three fists held upright and at arm’s length above the western horizon at 9:00 p.m. This star, whose name means bear watcher, is the brightest in the sky’s northern hemisphere. It follows Ursa Major, the Great Bear, around the North Star. Arcturus is the closest giant star to Earth. It is one of the few stars whose diameter can be measured directly rather than being inferred from its density and mass, which themselves are derived from other parameters. 

While Arcturus is watching the bears, tonight Spica is watching the waxing crescent Moon. The bright star is halfway between the Moon and the west-northwestern horizon at this time.

Sunday: Have you ever gone to a family reunion, looked around and asked, “How in the world are we related to each other?” Astronomers look around the Solar System and wonder if there is life anywhere else that we are related to. The Mars Science Laboratory landed on Mars in 2012 to investigate whether it ever had conditions favorable for life. The Venus Express studied the atmosphere of Venus from 2006 to 2014. NASA plans to launch the Europa Clipper in 2023 to look for evidence of current or past life in the Jovian moon’s ice-covered ocean. And NASA just approved the Dragonfly mission to fly a drone through the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan to study clues for the origin of life. To learn more about the search for life in the Solar System and beyond, go to https://www.astrobio.net/, a NASA-sponsored popular science magazine. While you won’t see anyone waving back, you can see Mars and Venus in the morning sky. At 5:00 a.m., Mars is nearly five fists above the southern horizon and Venus is two and a half fists above the eastern horizon. If you don’t like getting up early, you can find Mars low in the eastern sky at 11:00 p.m.

Monday: Deneb is straight overhead at 11:30 p.m. When you look at Deneb, you are seeing light that left Deneb about 1,800 years ago.

Tuesday: Antares is a half a fist to the lower left of the Moon at 9:00 p.m.. They are low in the south-southwestern sky.

Wednesday: All stars rotate. Our Sun takes a little less than one Earth month to rotate once on its axis. Astronomers studied the relationship between mass, stellar rotation, and planetary formation by aiming NASA’s recently retired Kepler space telescope toward the Pleiades open star cluster. All 1,000 stars in this group are nearly the same age, 125 million years old. Since all of the stars are the same age and formed from the same set of materials, astronomers have the ideal “laboratory” to isolate the role star mass plays on star rotation and evolution. Read more about the findings at http://goo.gl/osijIY. See the Pleiades for yourself, one fist above the east-northeastern horizon at 11:30 p.m.

Thursday: Seventeenth century astronomers documented the appearance of a new star, or “nova”, in 1670. However as modern astronomers studied the records of the star, called Nova Vulpeculae 1670, they realized it didn’t have the characteristics of a typical nova because it didn’t repeatedly brighten and dim. It brightened twice and disappeared for good. Turning their telescopes to the region, they discovered the chemical signature to be characteristic of a very rare collision of two stars. For more information about this discovery, go to http://goo.gl/rJnC2G. Nova Vulpeculae 1670 is right below the binary star system Alberio, the head of Cygnus the swan. Alberio is seven fists above due south at 10:00 p.m.

Friday: Tonight, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Moon make a small triangle in the sky. Jupiter is about two finger widths to the upper right of the Moon. They’ll easily fit in the same binocular field of view. Saturn is less than a fist to the upper left of the Moon.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up to date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm. 

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of August 15, 2020

 

The Harry Potter movie series just relaunched in China last week. Let’s relaunch some Harry Potter stories in the sky.

Saturday: One minor Harry Potter character actually has two well-known star names: Regulus Arcturus Black, the brother of Sirius Black who is Harry Potter’s godfather. Regulus Black was a former follower of Voldemort, the bad guy of the Harry Potter series. However, Regulus tried to dissociate himself from Voldemort and was killed. In the sixth book, Harry found an important note written by someone known only by the initials R.A.B. Hmmm. R.A.B. Regulus Arcturus Black perhaps? Regulus the star is right in line with the Sun at this time of year so it is not visible. Arcturus, the second brightest star visible in the nighttime sky in Washington and at Hogwarts, is three fists held upright and at arm’s length above the western horizon at 10:00 p.m.

Sunday: In The Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter takes his astronomy O.W.L. (Ordinary Wizarding Level) and claims to see Venus in the sky. Unfortunately, Venus was not up in June of 1996 when Harry would have been observing. Luckily, Venus is above the horizon for us now. It is two and a half fists above the eastern horizon at 5:00 a.m.

Monday: Bellatrix Lestrange is Sirius Black’s cousin. But, certainly not kissing cousins. They are killing cousins. Bellatrix kills Sirius in a fight at the Ministry of Magic. Bellatrix the star is the third brightest star in the constellation Orion the hunter. It is three fists above the east-southeastern horizon at 5:00 a.m.

Tuesday: Of course, Bellatrix is in cahoots with “he who must not be named”. Now, that’s a poorly written sentence, using an obscure synonym for “conspiring” and a vague reference. I must be under the curse “writicus dreadfulium”. Clearly this is the work of Tom Riddle, whose mother is named Merope Gaunt. Merope is a star in the Pleiades, an open star cluster about five and a half fists above the east-southeastern horizon at 5:00 a.m.

Wednesday: Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter’s young nemesis, is related to Sirius Black. Draco’s mother, Narcissa Black (Sirius’ cousin), helped develop a plan to trap Harry at the Ministry of Magic in the fifth book. Draco’s namesake, the constellation Draco the dragon, is one of the largest constellations in the sky, winding around the North Star. Draco’s head is a four-sided figure nearly straight overhead at 9:00 p.m.

Thursday: Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, is one and a half fists above the south-southwestern horizon at 9:00 p.m. Draco Malfoy was so impressed with this constellation name that he used it for the first name of his son. At this same time, Jupiter and Saturn are about one and a half fists above the south-southeastern horizon. Jupiter is the brighter of the two.

Friday: Not every woman in the Black family is evil. Let’s focus on the good. Andromeda Black, Bellatrix’s sister, is a good witch and the mother of Tonks, a young witch from the last few Harry Potter books. (If these Harry Potter references are confusing, you better start reading the books.) Andromeda the constellation is an interesting one. It contains the Andromeda galaxy, the most distant object visible with the naked eye from a dark site. To locate the Andromeda Galaxy, first find the Great Square of Pegasus. At 11:00 p.m., the left hand corner of the square is four fists above the eastern horizon. Less than two fists to the left and down a little bit is another star the same brightness as the star at the corner of the square. From that star, hop about a half a fist up to a star that is about one fourth as bright. Less than another half fist in the same direction is a fuzzy oval patch of light known as the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxy is impressive to see in binoculars. It consists of about one trillion stars and is 2.5 million light years away. If you are having trouble seeing the Andromeda Galaxy, shoot for an easier target. Mars is one fist above due east at this time.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up to date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm. 

The Ellensburg, WA sky for the week of August 8, 2020

 

Saturday:  The Moon and Mars are a half a fist held upright and at arm’s length above due east at 11:30 p.m. By 5:30 a.m. tomorrow, they are nearly five fists above due south. If the Moon looks smaller than usual to you, you are judging correctly. The Moon is at apogee tomorrow morning, meaning it is at its farthest point from the Earth this orbital period.

Sunday: “The sky is black (or light polluted), the stars are white (or red or orange or yellow or blue), the whole world gazes upon the sight (except where there are too many city lights or people are lazy.” Wow. It is difficult to write a flowing set of lyrics when there are so many parenthetical thoughts. Most people think of the sky’s blackness as a lack of stars. But dark patches in the Milky Way are actually massive clouds of dust that are blocking the stars behind them. Two of the most prominent are dark nebulae B142 and B143 in the constellation Aquila the eagle. These are easy to find and enjoy with binoculars. First find the bright white star Altair, five fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southeastern horizon at 10 p.m. Then move your binoculars up a little bit to the next bright star Tarazed, about one fifth as bright. B142 and B143 are to the upper right of Tarazed. They make an “E” shape in the sky; fitting because it was American astronomer E. E. Barnard who first proposed that these were dust clouds and not simply big spaces between the stars. For more information about dark nebulae, including many more to look at with binoculars, go to https://goo.gl/9tiqdh. 

Monday: Very bright Jupiter is two fists above the south-southeast horizon at 10:00 p.m. Bright Saturn is less than a fist to the left of Jupiter.

Tuesday: The Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight. But the Moon will be out during the late night and early morning. Luckily, the shower is active until about August 24 so it would be okay to wait until next week when the Moon is close to new. The meteors appear to come from a point just below the W of the constellation Cassiopeia. This point is about two and a half fists above the northeast horizon at 11 p.m. By dawn, this point is about seven fists above the northeast horizon. For tips about optimizing your viewing this year, go to https://earthsky.org/?p=165416  As your Mother might say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. These meteors are sand to pea-sized bits of rock that fell off of Comet Swift-Tuttle. They are traveling about 40 miles per second as they collide with the Earth and burn up in the atmosphere.

Wednesday: Spica is one fist above the west-southwestern horizon at 9:00 p.m. Over the next month, it will move closer to the Sun and get lost in its glare.

Thursday: This morning, Venus is as far away from the Sun in the sky as it will get this orbital cycle, known as the planet’s greatest western elongation. Today is one of the best mornings of the year to observe Venus because it is far from the Sun just before sunrise. Venus is three fists above due east at 5:30 a.m. Over the next few months, Venus will move toward the Sun in the sky and get closer to the horizon. By next May, it will be visible in the evening sky. By Saturday morning, it will be visible about a half a fist to the lower right of the waning crescent Moon at 5:00 a.m.

Friday: If you want to show your loved ones a celestial sign that they should hang up their clothes, show them Brocchi's Cluster, commonly known as the Coat Hanger cluster because of its resemblance to an upside down coat hanger. The cluster is six fists above the southern horizon at 11:00 p.m., midway between Altair and Vega, the two brightest stars in the Summer Triangle. You'll need binoculars to make out the shape. First find Altair five fists above the southern horizon. Slowly move your binoculars up toward Vega. You will run into the coat hanger along the way. And while you are at it, put away your shoes.

The positional information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up to date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.